Based on the career of Rudolf Kraus, the article analyzes the search for cures to infectious diseases in tropical regions in the early twentieth century, focusing especially on Kraus' development of new biological treatments like sera, vaccines, and protein solutions. At that time, the world's tropical regions were often portrayed as more propitious for research, given the larger number of organisms that could be identified in these realms and an allegedly lower level of peer competition as well. The tropics were thus seen as an oasis for microbiological research. Kraus dedicated himself to the production of various products of biological origin, but he failed to achieve his hoped-for success with many of them.
Rudolf Kraus (1868-1932); tropical diversity; South America; history of microbiology; history of sera and vaccines